After the First Revelation

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is extracted from “The Prophet Muhammad Muswthafa the Elect (s.a.w.)” by Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas. 

It was, thus, these ayat of the Qur’an that the Blessed Prophet (s.a.w.) received first from the gates of Heaven as a source of grace and vigour.  Jibril (a.s.) departed not long after and the Prophet (s.a.w.) returned home to Sayyidatina Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (r.a.), trembling from the unbearable fright of the moment: “Cover me, Khadijah, cover me!” he was saying. 

After a few moments, the Blessed Messenger (s.a.w.) recounted the experience to his wife, our mother, Sayyidatina Khadijah (r.a.), the noble woman with whom he lived an upright family life for the rest of humankind to emulate.  Anxiously, he asked her: “Who is going to believe me now, Khadijah?” 

But the noble woman reassured her life companion, “I assure you that Allah will never embarrass you; for you protect your kin, assume responsibility for those who cannot do so for themselves, give charity to the needy, do greater good than anyone else, treat your guests with honour and respect and assist those striving to do good.  I will believe you and be the first to do so, even if nobody else does.  Let me be the first you invite onto the path you call!” 

These gracious words thus made Sayyidatina Khadijah (r.a.) the first person to testify to the truth of her noble husband and help him in his arduous mission.  In other words, what Sayyidatina Khadijah (r.a.) was implicitly telling her husband was that only good can come out of good and benevolence could only engender benevolence, and nothing else.  Rightly so, she could only expect the unfolding of a bright future from an immaculate past of moral uprightness, as if to echo the words of the Qur’an soon to be Revealed: 

سُوۡرَةُ الرَّحمٰن

هَلۡ جَزَآءُ ٱلۡإِحۡسَـٰنِ إِلَّا ٱلۡإِحۡسَـٰنُ (٦٠) 

Is there any Reward for good other than good? (Surah ar-Rahman:60)